DENVER - If you're thinking about making travel plans for spring break or summer vacation, one local woman has a warning: be careful when you're booking tickets, and even more careful *after* you book.
Alletha Mazzei spent more than $1,100 through the popular travel booking Web site Orbitz, buying 4 tickets for her and her family to fly to Washington, DC to attend a wedding. Then two weeks later, she received an email.
"The email said 'Great news, Alleetha.You can catch this flight for less!,'" she told us.
Alletha followed the directions and checked the terms and conditions. She believed the offer was part of their promotion price guarantee where she would get a refund for the more expensive set of tickets.
"I really thought I was getting a great deal and great customer service," she said.
However, instead of saving hundreds of dollars, she ended up with 8 tickets instead of four. She had a big problem, which Orbitz solved for her Wednesday. But not before she experienced difficulty.
"I am very frustrated. This is a scam and when I mentioned that to the supervisor, he said, 'M'aam you don't need to yell.' I said 'I'm not raising my voice, I'm just telling you I feel this is a scam," Mazzei said.
Alleetha says she wanted to warn others so it doesn't happen to anyone else.
"Orbitz is commonly used, popular travel site. I'm sure they are making a lot of money off people doing this."
Mazzei says she had talked to five supervisors at Orbitz but had still not gotten this resolved. And with her trip coming up next week, she said she was not very hopeful that she would get it resolved.
Orbitz Takes Action
That all changed Wednesday. Orbitz responded to Mazzei's concerns. Jeanenne Tornatore, Orbitz Director of Public Relations, provided the following response to FOX31 News:
"Earlier this year, Orbitz launched an email campaign that was intended to alert customers who searched for a flight, but had not yet booked, that searches by other customers produced lower price air fare. This email campaign is unrelated to the Price Assurance program. With Orbitz Price Assurance, if another Orbitz customer books the same flight for less, we send a check for the difference to our customer who booked that flight earlier. In contrast, these emails were intended to help customers who have not yet booked travel to understand that there may be a lower price available on Orbitz.com."
Tornatore went on to say that Orbitz offered its apologies to Mazzei, and refunded the first set of tickets she booked for $1,109.
Mazzei says she is, "Completely satisfied with the outcome."
Alletha Mazzei spent more than $1,100 through the popular travel booking Web site Orbitz, buying 4 tickets for her and her family to fly to Washington, DC to attend a wedding. Then two weeks later, she received an email.
"The email said 'Great news, Alleetha.You can catch this flight for less!,'" she told us.
Alletha followed the directions and checked the terms and conditions. She believed the offer was part of their promotion price guarantee where she would get a refund for the more expensive set of tickets.
"I really thought I was getting a great deal and great customer service," she said.
However, instead of saving hundreds of dollars, she ended up with 8 tickets instead of four. She had a big problem, which Orbitz solved for her Wednesday. But not before she experienced difficulty.
"I am very frustrated. This is a scam and when I mentioned that to the supervisor, he said, 'M'aam you don't need to yell.' I said 'I'm not raising my voice, I'm just telling you I feel this is a scam," Mazzei said.
Alleetha says she wanted to warn others so it doesn't happen to anyone else.
"Orbitz is commonly used, popular travel site. I'm sure they are making a lot of money off people doing this."
Mazzei says she had talked to five supervisors at Orbitz but had still not gotten this resolved. And with her trip coming up next week, she said she was not very hopeful that she would get it resolved.
Orbitz Takes Action
That all changed Wednesday. Orbitz responded to Mazzei's concerns. Jeanenne Tornatore, Orbitz Director of Public Relations, provided the following response to FOX31 News:
"Earlier this year, Orbitz launched an email campaign that was intended to alert customers who searched for a flight, but had not yet booked, that searches by other customers produced lower price air fare. This email campaign is unrelated to the Price Assurance program. With Orbitz Price Assurance, if another Orbitz customer books the same flight for less, we send a check for the difference to our customer who booked that flight earlier. In contrast, these emails were intended to help customers who have not yet booked travel to understand that there may be a lower price available on Orbitz.com."
Tornatore went on to say that Orbitz offered its apologies to Mazzei, and refunded the first set of tickets she booked for $1,109.
Mazzei says she is, "Completely satisfied with the outcome."
